1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for remotely sensing and controlling the environment, and, more specifically, the present invention is directed to visual sensing devices that provide tactile sensation of edges and objects in the environment and control of recognized targets in the environment.
2. Description of the Background
Devices that transfer input from the visual environment to another sense have been developed. For example, visually impaired individuals have been presented with a wide variety of devices that transfer to another sense at least some of the vision-related capabilities of normally-sighted individuals. The primary assistive technologies presently used by the blind to navigate through the environment are essentially unchanged from those used twenty years ago, namely, white canes and guide dogs. Although these two methods can provide the ability to travel safely in a wide variety of environments, neither provide the kind of assistance needed to straighten a picture frame on the wall or find a can of soup on a counter-top.
Electronic navigation aids are finding some acceptance, especially laser and ultrasound canes, as well as portable computers with global positioning systems (GPS) and electronic Braille or speech interfaces. Replacing the more general capabilities of vision to provide detailed information about objects in the environment has proven much harder.
Existing products capture an image and then display that image on a tactile screen that could be worn on a belt.
The fingers can then be used to interrogate the image depicted on the tactile screen in an effort to “visualize” the image depicted on the screen.
There are also a number of related technologies that monitor hand, eye, and body motion from a fixed camera to interpret gestures, commands, gaze direction. These are generally not worn by the operator and thus only operate within a limited space, focusing on the operator himself rather than his interrogation of whatever environment he happens to be in.
There exists a need, however, for a device that allows for active interrogation and sensing of the three dimensional environment surrounding the operator as he moves through daily life. There also exists a need for a device that not only allows the user to sense the environment but also provides control of specific aspects of the environment that are sensed by the device. There exists a need for a portable device providing this ability to interrogate and control the environment which is not limited to any specific environment. Through its many preferred embodiments, the present invention addresses one or more of the above limitations in the art to provide a variety of different sensing and control devices and methods for use as a surrogate for vision.